Safety guards have been used to protect machine operators in an assorted array of applications in factories. Some applications include providing guards around the perimeter of stationary machinery such as stamping presses. The guard provides a safe distance for the machine operator to distance himself from the inner workings of the press. Some factory applications include providing guards around or along assembly lines that traverse parts and materials from point A to point B. In each such application the guard may be a fixed structure that can be permanently secured to mounting hardware that forms a part of the housing for the machinery or the structure for the assembly line. These style of safety guards are permanent in nature and are not accommodating to changing conditions in a factory.
An assembly line may need to be changed or reconfigured between operating shifts so as to accommodate part change over to meet the demands of production requirements. During the shift changes, a machine, assembly line, or the like, may need to be reconfigured to accommodate different parts, different machines, different assembly steps and processes, etc. In such circumstances, safety guards may need to be reconfigured, removed, extended, shortened, etc., so as to accommodate the newly reconfigured assembly process. Over a given day, this process could be repeated based on production demands.
OSHA has requirements that must be considered in order to maintain the safety of a work space. One such requirement may include reducing pinch zones in the area where a manufactured part exits a machine and is then relayed further downstream of the manufacturing process. For example, guards may be desired in the space downstream of the outlet of the stamping press and at the point where the conveyor removes the part from the machine downstream to where the part may be further processed, finished, assembled, etc. Permanent guards may be welded to the machine and/or assembly line in order to provide a safe operating condition.
The problem with permanent safety guards is that they do not provide the flexibility to accommodate quick manufacturing process change overs that may take place during or between shifts. Also, permanent guards are fixed in length and may not accommodate an assembly line that perhaps needs to be shortened or lengthened or otherwise modified to meet production demands. Also, some safety guards are large, inflexible and bulky in configuration. When these types of guards are removed from the production line, they often require significant storage areas. Space in a factory setting is often at a premium so allocating extra space to house safety guards is not an efficient use of resources.
It would be helpful to provide a flexible safety guard that can be used to overcome the aforementioned problems, accommodate various factory settings, is adjustable in nature such that it can be quickly and easily reconfigured, and if it is not needed due to production demands, it can be collapsed and then easily stored in a minimal about of space in the plant.